In response to Lewis, I was thinking in terms of the bond between songwriting and production. On Sung Tongs the weird production blips and vocal quirkiness were the melodies and harmonies. On Strawberry Jam there was a lot more noise and errant sampling, but the production became increasingly disconnected from the chord progressions and actual sung melodies. The production goofiness was like ornamentation for an underlying, more standard sound. On that album I heard an unfortunate streamlining of their weirdness. It was like they had the production gimmicks to keep it weird when the backbone of the music was becoming safer. Now on MPP we have an album that is completely split into two pieces. Every song could easily be reduced to an acoustic version that has just been rendered into something characteristically AC by way of the production, instead of songs on their previous album where the process of creating the production quirks yielded the actual melodic and harmonic content of the songs. I hope that makes sense. To answer your second part, the reason I listen to AC is because they're doing weird original shit, some of it inspired, and some of it affected and lame. Like I don't want to hear their most mainstream effort. It's the same reason I listen to Xiu Xiu. If they ever put out a "safe" or "accessible" (whether intentionally or unintentionally) album I think I'd find myself turned off. Xiu Xiu's safest album is probably The Air Force and I hardly listen to it and prefer Fabulous Muscles and A Promise much more.

Now on MPP we have an album that is completely split into two pieces. Every song could easily be reduced to an acoustic version that has just been rendered into something characteristically AC by way of the production, instead of songs on their previous album where the process of creating the production quirks yielded the actual melodic and harmonic content of the songs. I hope that makes sense.

It makes sense it just seems like you're overanalyzing it. It's like "this album isn't challenging the boundaries of music therefore its not good."

That makes complete sense, actually. I never approached it like that but then again I don't approach things as technically as you do + I got into Animal Collective because of Feels and everything else filed suit afterward. You do bring up a great point and I think one where we still don't agree; I like Sung Tongs a lot but I find a lot of the time despite the production and not because of it. I admire it more than I genuinely enjoy it, which is where the actual songwriting comes into play and not just the quirks they add to or upon it. I like the disconnect of production on Strawberry Jam because it made the album feel like a genuine attempt at a departure, not to mention Avey Tare became the album's MVP. Which also comes down to where I don't feel like "accessible" equals "safe."

album rules, totally exceeded my expectations. not as good as strawberry jam, but the fact that they followed up sj with such an incredible album just solidifies them as one of the best bands of the last decade. First half of the album flows perfectly, second half is cool with its more varied sound but ultimately just a bit weaker. "Summertime Clothes" is definitely one of the best songs they have ever written and my favorite track on the album. Other standouts, in order of preference: "My Girls," "Also Frightened," "Brothersport," "Daily Routine," "Guys Eyes," "Lion In A Coma." And the tracks I left out are also fantastic, they just haven't sunk in yet. good review and I can't wait to take LSD and listen to this.

man i feel guilty about not talking about no more runnin, taste, bluish. im listening to no more runnin right now, this song is so fucking good. i dont understand how they can create this distinctive "album" feel yet genre-hop and shift styles so much from song to song. the recording just perfectly captures them. gotta say you can hear person pitch soooo much in this album too, in the way its recorded and such. avey and panda bear work together so beautifully on this album vocally also.This Message Edited On 01.06.09

Ya, I think what I value in AC is that their process and their found sound can equal the output. The more I listen to Xiu Xiu against AC, I realize why I can like the former and dislike the latter. Jamie Stewart essentially writes songs, you know, songs with 4-chord harmonic progressions and vocal melodies and poop like that, and then completely contorts them and mangles them through production. He has two layers, his songwriting, and then his production work. What AC did so well for me was the opposite. It was almost like they enjoyed the possibilities of the composition and recording process using lots of interesting sounds. They didn't have "songs" in mind but rather ideas for sounds that they align in interesting ways. Why MPP fails for me is because they seem to be composing more along the lines of Xiu Xiu now, and aren't all that good at it imo. Jamie Stewart's music is all about being ridiculously melodramatic and cathartic, so it makes sense that he'd be a songwriter first and producer second. Even then his role as producer is like that of some other personality of Stewart. His songwriting is incredibly personal, and at moments coy or in your face and his production can similarly subdued or coy. Some of his best songs take brutal lyrical themes like incestual rape and portrays them in a touching, sentimental, and delicate way. I don't see AC as being compelling songwriters in the traditional sense. They aren't going to move me with a beautiful lyrical or melodic fragment, but are more going to interest me with what they can do as sound manipulators. When I hear an album like MPP that plays down their role as producers and upgrades the presence of their songwriting, I feel like something vital is missing.